kazza » Fri Mar 18, 2022 7:06 pm wrote:I’m not so sure Yakka, I think man for man football has come along way. Players are far more technical and able to play with both feet, they eat better, don’t smoke, are able to run more and faster. There is a fitness coach, a team of nutritionists, a set piece coach, a throwing coach. They get a briefing after and before each match so they know their opponent in detail. Professionalism is football is far greater now due to all the money in the game.
In that era that we dominated there were plenty of part time players we played against, plenty of players with beer bellies that smoked like chimneys . No part timers in this era. I would argue that we dominated an easier time.
Not to take anything away from that era as we were the best of that era, I just think that this team would have bean those teams. I just believe this is our best ever assembled team.
I don't think the players are more technical mate, if they have to play on a pitch that is even slightly bumpy half of them look like they've never kicked a ball before,
Some of those England games when they've had to play on a dodgy pitch in Eastern Europe somewhere are like 90 minute long football funnies compilations with air shots galore and all sorts, proper Keystone cops stuff and I'm talking Gerrard, Scholes, Beckham, Lampard etc.
I wouldn't even mind but the pitches aren't even that bad, they just aren't the bowling greens that they are used to, I shudder to think what they would be like on some of the pitches of the 60's and 70's.
As for fitness yes this generation of players look after themselves better but that doesn't necessarily equate into them being better athletes.
On YouTube there's a clip from the TV program Superstars of Malcolm McDonald running the 100m in 10.9 seconds, this was from 1976. Now Theo Walcott s best ever time when he was at his fleet footed best was 10.7 and he was about half the size of McDonald.
The thing is McDonald never stood out as being a flyer in the 70's, don't get me wrong he wasn't slow, but he wasn't seen as being particularly quick either.
He wasn't the only one, Ian Callaghan set a 100m time in pre season training in the early 60's that wasn't beaten at Melwood for decades, Djibril Cisse eventually beat it but the likes of Michael Owen and Steve McManaman etc couldn't get near Cally's time.
Bobby Robson said in his autobiography that the most athletic player he ever coached was Kevin Beattie, a player who very nearly signed for us in the early 70's, Robson said Beattie was so gifted physically he could have been an Olympic decathlete.
Don't forget Robson coached some great players at PSV and Barca including a prime Ronaldo9.
This image that players from yesteryear were all like dart players is a myth, yes a lot of them liked a bevvy but they were still gifted athletes who trained every single day.